Dizzy Izzy & Ernst

Dizzy Izzy & Ernst
Dizzy Izzy & Ernstl

Sunday 29 December 2013

A whole day in Hanoi ...

.... observing the locals ...

...visiting the temple of literature ...


... strolling around Hoan Kiem Lake till the Ngoc Son Temple ...



... and finally the madness of Old Hanoi and a quick visit at Joseph's cathedral ...






Saturday 28 December 2013

Hanoi!

About 52 hours after leaving Söll on Dec 26th, we finally made it to the Hotel in Hanoi ... dirty, stinky but extremely happy and enriched by a new experience, one that not many people can mention in their CV ;) ...

Here are the first pics from our room on the fourth floor (no lift but lots of sport):




Because it was so late, we literally crossed the road and went to a lovely restaurant to have a bite to eat and a well deserved beer:








I was so hungry, I decided to give even the carrot decoration a go ...


but now it's time to go to bed, tomorrow we will discover Hanoi on foot!!!

Friday 27 December 2013

of course, we spoke too soon - and disaster struck straight afterwards ...

... but we are not going to spoil our mood talking about it, let's just say that the Russian federation will be forever cancelled as a holiday destination ... but we have decided to write about the whole malarkey at the very end of our trip ... for now let's just say that we have been delayed and we are still making our way to Vietnam, arrival for tomorrow evening (fingers crossed!!!)

Thursday 26 December 2013

Moscow!!

landed in Moscow earlier than expected, we had to circle around a couple of time and had the time to enjoy the beautiful countryside and forests and the very ugly nuclear plants and huge apartment blocks ... enjoyed a Siberian crown beer and nasty crisps at an extortionary price at Foster's pub (no fosters beer there though) and now chilling in the Shannon's irish pub, waiting for our flight ... beer, a salad and some potato wedges ... life is not too bad after all ... :)

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Finally ... at Munich airport ...

... already knackered but happy ... :) ... the flight seems also to be on time, everything has gone smoothly up to now ...

love is in the air

two hearts and two pints

 

Tomorrow is the day ...

... we haven't been sleeping well for the last couple of nights, but now it's not that important, because tomorrow morning the wacky adventure will finally begin ...

Thursday 19 December 2013

One week to go ...

It always seemed so distant in the future, but finally we are almost there, one more week and we will be flying out to start our adventure ... but in the meantime there are so many things to arrange, pack, prepare!! Anxiety is mounting and our health has been deteriorating accordingly ... it's now time to take a deep breath and be simply "ready to go" !!

Wednesday 4 December 2013

No Russian visa needed ... what a relief!

A couple of days ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with the most horrible presentment that I would need a transit visa to enter Russia, because I would need to get my luggage and check it in again at Moscow Airport, being therefore forced to go through security ... and all because I had just realised that I would fly to Hanoi with two different airlines for the two legs of the journey, and two airlines that are members of different fidelity programs (skyteam versus oneworld) ... but, after spending almost an hour on the internet, writing frantic emails to both airlines (Air Berlin and Vietnam Airlines) and to the Moscow airport (Domodedovo or whatever its unpronounceable name is), and scanning through similar posts on tripadvisor and lonely planet, in the morning, after a very quick phone call, I finally got the good news that my luggage would be checked in through from Munich to Hanoi, therefore, I would not need to leave the international departure area of the airport and would need no visa whatsoever ... what a relief!!